Review Blog

May 24 2017

First Baby Days series

Pat-a-Cake, 2017Funny Faces. ISBN 9781526380005On the Move. ISBN 9781526380012
(Ages: 0-2) Recommended. Board books, high-contrast illustrations.
These high-contrast board books have been designed to stimulate even
the youngest children. Testing them out on my own two-month-old gave
credibility to this claim; she was more engaged with the
illustrations in these two titles than with other brightly coloured
illustrations. Not only did she look at the pictures for longer but
she also followed the book with her eyes. When held in front of her
she also became calmer, seemingly enjoying the stimulation.
Each book contains one bright colour (yellow, red) as well as black,
white and grey. The illustrations are bold with simple patterns and
the text encourages the parent to interact with the child (e.g.
'Hello, little panda. Wave to little panda!'). Infants love to look
at faces so will love the big expressive faces of the animals in Funny
Faces and enjoy looking at themselves in the large, clear
mirror (many mirrors placed in books are tiny and don't reflect
well). They will also enjoy the noises of the vehicles in On the
Move (Brrm! Choo! Zoom!) and tracking the impressive pull-tabs
(there are pull-tabs within pull-tabs), which are robust enough to
withstand rough treatment.
These two titles are great for infants but will also entertain
toddlers.
Nicole Nelson